Each month Mercadito offers Tacos for Strength, a tasty promotion that features a special taco created by a guest chef. more ›

Planning a dinner out this week? Consider helping hungry kids by participating in Share Our Strength's "Dine Out For No Kid Hungry." more ›

Have a beer to help the children. more ›

Tough time getting a table at Girl & the Goat? Taste the creation of now famed chef Stephanie Izard, and Food + Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef, at seriously reduced prices, with a charitable cause in mind. Popular quick-and-easy Lakeview dining favorite Falafill is hosting a series of famous chef-made wraps with a portion of the proceeds going to the featured chef’s charity of choice. This month’s Izard wrap, with proceeds going to Share Our Strength, has us salivating for more. more ›

The Butcher and Larder will be the setting for one of the largest bake sales the city has ever seen Saturday with Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale. from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. bakeries, restaurants and pastry chefs from all over the city including Balsan, Hoosier Mama, Big Jones, Floriole, City Provisions, Food For Thought Catering and Xmarx are donating delicious desserts for this great cause event. It's one of many sales being held under the Great American Bake Sale banner, but certainly the one with the most chef firepower behind it. more ›

Last night, the most exciting culinary destination in Chicago was Hot Chocolate. After six years of great success with her restaurant, Mindy Segal threw a party. Not just any party - a "Bad Ass Chicks" dinner party. Since we love to celebrate great women chefs at Chicagoist, we were particularly excited to hear that this year's event would be cooked exclusively by women. As is traditional with Hot Chocolate anniversary dinners, charity, not decadent vanity, was the order of the evening - all proceeds went to Share Our Strength. As the menu said: 6 Years of Hot Chocolate + 6 Craft Beers + 6 Awesome Women Chefs = Share Our Strength." And share we did! more ›

Over the past couple of years, the dinners Mindy Segal hosts to mark Hot Chocolate's anniversary have been circled in ink as must-attend events. Segal always corrals chefs and brewers who bring their "A" games to these dinners. And there's about eating fresh Lake Superior smelts from Paul Kahan while Black Sabbath blasts through the restaurant's sound system in the dead of winter that's just the kick in the ass we need for spring to get here already. more ›

During 2011 at Mercadito, charity and great tacos will go hand in hand. The "Tacos for Strength" program will be offering a different chef-designed taco each month as a special, and this month's taco was created by celebrated molecular gastronomist (and chef/owner of WD-50 in New York) Wylie Dufresne. His taco is made with tiny, bite-size soy falafel balls, pickled radishes, diced cucumber and white sesame puree. Interesting and vegetarian-friendly! more ›

On Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of participating in the finals of an amateur bartending contest hosted by the folks at Prairie Fire and the charity Share Our Strength. (How I got myself behind the bar at Prairie Fire is described here and here.) After two terribly enjoyable hours, the other finalist - a knowledgeable and talented mixer named Adam Murphy - out-earned me in tips (all of which were donated to Share Our Strength to combat childhood hunger) and thus was named the winner. He'll be demonstrating his winning original cocktail, the delicious White Winter Whiskey Sour, at the Green City Market this Wednesday. I urge everyone to go see him in action. more ›

So that cocktail competition we posted about last week at Prairie Fire? Our Own Roger Kamholz is a finalist this evening. Join Roger this evening fro 6-8 p.m. as he slings his drink for charity. The most tips wins, and all tips go to Share Our Strength. more ›

Readers know there are a handful of cocktail enthusiasts here on the Chicagoist staff. But how would Rob, Anthony and Roger stand against other like-minded drinkers? For that matter, how would you? more ›

Reservations are still available for tomorrow night's "A Tasteful Pursuit" dinner at Spiaggia. The proceeds for the dinner will benefit Share Our Strength. Host chef Tony Mantuano is welcoming Paul Kahan, Takashi Yagihashi and Philadelphia chef Marc Vetri to join him, Spiaggia Executive chef Sarah Grueneberg and Terzo Piano pastry chef Megan Neubeck for a multi-course dinner to help fund Share Our Strength's efforts to fight childhood hunger in America. (Full Disclosure: I'm a longtime supporter of Share Our Strength and sit on the planning committee for its annual "Taste of the Nation" event.) more ›

For the next year, guests at Mercadito will have the opportunity to participate in a very special promotion. Each month, a guest chef will be designing a special taco, to be added to the menu for the whole month, and a portion of the proceeds from its sale will be donated to Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending childhood hunger. more ›

Share Our Strength just had a rousing success with its Taste of the Nation event at the Aragon Ballroom, but the non-profit's efforts to help rid America of childhood hunger by 2015 haven't ended. Their Great American Dine Out is currently ongoing — for participating restaurants, click here —and they've enlisted an All-Pro team of chefs for their "A Tasteful Pursuit" dinner series, which lands at Spiaggia November 17. more ›

Last night more than 1,000 local food lovers loosened their belts and opened their wallets for the annual Share Our Strength Taste of the Nation at the Aragon Ballroom. Shocked by the astounding number that more than 12.4 million children face hunger across our great nation (1 out of every 4 children in Chicago runs the risk of going hungry), Chef Mindy Segal and Hub 51 Owner RJ Melman rallied local chefs and mixologists to donate their time and culinary talent to deliver a succulent spread of small bites, inspired by street food, and inventive cocktails. more ›

Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation, one of the biggest gatherings of chef and bartending talent this year, takes place next Thursday at the Aragon Ballroom. The annual event raises money for for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Near North Health Services and the Illinois Hunger Coalition, three organizations fighting the rise of childhood hunger in the greater Chicago area.. more ›

Combine charity and good food by heading to Michael Kornick's DMK Burger Bar this Sunday, July 25th, for its Shift Drinks (and Eats) event. Your $10 donation goes to Share Our Strength and gets you the entire DMK menu at half-off. Grass-fed beef burgers, fries, mac 'n' cheese, beer, home-made sodas, Mmmmmmmm. There will be a raffle and giveaways, as well! more ›

Today, superhero Chicago chefs including Paul Kahan, Koren Grieveson, Gale Gand and many others met on the lawn of the White House with First Lady Michelle Obama to kick off “Chefs Move to Schools” campaign. Running parallel with the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign, "Chefs Move to Schools" connects children with the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives. At the event, local chefs learned how to adopt a school at a panel discussion with Assistant to the White House Chef Sam Kass and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. more ›

Near North Health Services Corporation (NNHSC) is one of the largest providers of community-based primary health care in the city of Chicago, serving members of our community in dire need. Simply stated, they're helping anyone and everyone. The communities they serve are, according to the organization, “characterized by large concentrations of CHA high rise apartments, abandoned residential buildings, blighted commercial properties, and an utter absence of basic services and health care resources”. It is the mission of NNHSC to provide services focused on the medically underserved using primary care concepts, advocate for safe and healthy communities, and acknowledge the environmental, social and cultural factors that influence one’s health. They stand as a positive force on the health status of the entire community and empower its members to take ownership of their health. more ›

Who: Some of Chicago's finest food bloggers and bakeries will be there, including Kudos Kookies and Foiled Cupcakes. more ›

Mindy Segal celebrated five years of Hot Chocolate last night with a $150 per person dinner to benefit Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation event this August. This year Segal wanted to feature the chefs who helped influence her on her way to becoming one of the best pastry chefs in the country. The lineup she put together resembled a chef's Dream Team. Rick Bayless and Brian Enyart, Paul Kahan, Michael Kornick and Erick Williams, Paul Virant, Bill Kim, Nick Lessins of Great Lake and Benjamin Caulfield of Three Floyds Brewpub joined Segal and her new executive chef Aric Miech in producing a tightly orchestrated seven-course meal paired with beers from some of Segal's favorite breweries. more ›

Although it happened in February, Hot Chocolate's fourth anniversary dinner still stood as my favorite overall dining experience last year. It was a seven-course marathon that increased in intensity and flavor with every dish, paired with some heavy duty beers and a music soundtrack that ranged from early Black Sabbath to pre-"Black Album" Metallica to the Twilight Singers. The proceeds from the dinner went to Share Our Strength, the DC-based non-profit dedicated to eliminating hunger in America by 2015. Quite simply, I was exhausted at the end of the meal. more ›

If you were thinking you could get through August's events by hitting the Air & Water Show and Lollapalooza and then you'd be done, you're wrong. If you haven't heard of the Share Our Strength / Taste of the Nation events, well, you're about to. Mindy Segal is one of the co-chairs of the program and when she's not running her restaurant Hot Chocolate she's been crazy busy setting up one of the most interesting and promising culinary events of the year. more ›

Have an aspiring kid chef (ages 9 - 13) at home? Get him or her to Kendall College this Sunday for the ConAgra Foods and Share Our Strength Healthy Kids Cook-Off. In this Iron-Chef style cooking competition, kids will compete to create both a healthy and tasty meal or snack with a limited list of ingredients. The event is aimed at education children about nutritional information as well as to raise awareness of childhood hunger in America. more ›

Last night Mindy Segal brought together some of the best chefs in the city to celebrate Hot Chocolate's fourth anniversary with a $100 per person dinner to benefit Share Our Strength, a non-profit that works with local food banks, restaurants and community groups to combat hunger at home. Segal is the chair of Share Our Strength's "Taste of the Nation" event, scheduled for August 13 at Ravenswood Billboard Factory (Full disclosure: this Chicagoist staffer is also on the event committee). more ›

Break out your party hats, on Monday, February 23, Hot Chocolate is celebrating its 4th birthday by hosting a ridiculous five course dinner complete with appropriately paired craft beers. Even better, ticket sales will benefit Share Our Strength, a national non-profit working to end childhood hunger. more ›

Got some fun burby-blurbs for you this week along with our usual round-up of goings-on in the cit-tay. more ›

Via Chicago Foodies, we found out about USA Dine Out, a new program sponsored by San Pellegrino. Here is the deal; a select bunch of Chicago restaurants will be offering $25 and $35 fixed price lunches and dinner, respectively, in between August 19-23 and August 26–30. Every table gets a free bottle of water, and Pellegrino donates $1 to Share Out Strength. Now we all know $1 isn't a huge amount of money... but if... more ›

If you happened to be dining at any one of a number of Chicago’s top restaurants last Monday evening and peeked your head into the kitchen, odds are you wouldn’t have found the executive chefs there. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t working. Instead, over 30 of the city’s best chefs and 20 United States Bartenders’ Guild members were donating their time and skills to Share Our Strength’s “Taste of the Nation Chicago,” just... more ›

June has been designated as Hunger Awareness Month, and just as the month is winding down, we have one big ticket event to mention in support. more ›